"Overstocked" Big tanks?
- Thread starter Cich_lids
- Start date
tankmates;1392978; said:
To tell the truth, the lights are from the newer RJ Reynolds cigarrette display racks. They are two 48" strips with two bulbs per strip. I'm not exactly sure of the bulb type (they're really skinny). Here's what the bulbs say if it gives you a better indication:
Sylvania HG
Pentron 6500K 28Watts
FP28/865/HO/ECO Italy
They are super bright. They are so bright that I usually only leave one light on most of the time. Both lights on make for awesome colors on the fishes though. Both lights on during photography can make for a blinding reflection off the white sand. I have to try to get the fishes up higher in the tank during photos to avoid the reflection and get really good colors.
Overall, these lights are a VAST improvement over the old 48" double 20Watt shop light I used to have.
My 253 gallon is stocked with a Silver Arowana, 1 Jag, 4 Argenteas, 3 Carpintis, 1 Festae, 2 Trimacs, 3 male convicts, 2 Centrachus, 1 Senagal, 1 Delhezi, 6 Redhook Silver Dollars, 4 Filament Barbs a Striped Raphael cat and bristlenose pleco. It's a bit overstocked but all fins are intact for now and there's almost no aggression. I'm hoping to grow all these guys out together and I'll thin out a few as they start to get bigger. I run a 75 gallon/1800gph wet dry sump, 2 Fluval FX-5 cans and an Emperor 400 hob. What do yall think?
what every one else said it gets rid of territories and when fish fight there are other aggressive cichlid to fight so its not just one fish seeing all the aggression it gets spreed out
thats a nice looking loisellie
thats the thing about convics some are just to smart to become feeders firemouths work better
thats a nice looking loisellie
thats the thing about convics some are just to smart to become feeders firemouths work better
Well Terd has had alot better luck in his tank than I have.
I found that in my 90g all I could have was 1 jag, a convict and a couple bristlenose plecos and this only worked becouse I had plenty of hiding spots for during tantrums. The female jag and the male convict had seemingly paired off but she still on occasion tried to kill him.
In my 180g I started off with 2 JDs, a male festae, an amphilophus lyonsi, Pacu, Firemouth, GT, FH, Leporinus fasciatus, 3 pictus cats, 15 cory cats, and a sailfin pleco. The FH was the first to go at 6" when he turned homocidal and tore up everyones fins and scales (no casualties luckily). Then everything was fine until my smaller JD went through a major growth spurt from 7.5" to 9.5" in 2 months at which point he decided the tank wasnt big enough fort the other 8.5" JD so he was removed after about a week of liplocking that started out small but ended up very brutal. The Pacu is 14" and can take a beating which is good because he gets beaten by everyone. Pictis cats killed several cory cats so the survivors got transfered into the peacock tank and were replaced by a couple lobsters (excellent armored cleaning crew as long as they have plenty of good hideouts to moult in).
So for now the 180 is "peaceful" again with a 9.5" JD, a 11.5" RT, 6" GT, 4.5" Leporinus fasciatus (constantly at it with the firemouth), 4.5" Firemouth, 10" Lyonsi, 14" pacu (still wishes he was dead), 14" sailfin pleco, 3 5" Pictus cats (Despite the recommendation to keep in groups of 3 they are vicious to each other), and 2 5" lobsters.
IMO the best setup is 1 large agressive cichlid, I small vicious cichlid (convict or firemouth) LOTS of hiding spots the large cichlid cant get into, a large pleco 10"+, and a lobster (these guys clean a tank amazingly, even the fish feces is shredded and instead of settling on the bottom it goes out to the filter! They are a must have, they make cleaning easy).
I realy wish I had better luck overstocked but I didnt. More power to those of you who can make it work.
I found that in my 90g all I could have was 1 jag, a convict and a couple bristlenose plecos and this only worked becouse I had plenty of hiding spots for during tantrums. The female jag and the male convict had seemingly paired off but she still on occasion tried to kill him.
In my 180g I started off with 2 JDs, a male festae, an amphilophus lyonsi, Pacu, Firemouth, GT, FH, Leporinus fasciatus, 3 pictus cats, 15 cory cats, and a sailfin pleco. The FH was the first to go at 6" when he turned homocidal and tore up everyones fins and scales (no casualties luckily). Then everything was fine until my smaller JD went through a major growth spurt from 7.5" to 9.5" in 2 months at which point he decided the tank wasnt big enough fort the other 8.5" JD so he was removed after about a week of liplocking that started out small but ended up very brutal. The Pacu is 14" and can take a beating which is good because he gets beaten by everyone. Pictis cats killed several cory cats so the survivors got transfered into the peacock tank and were replaced by a couple lobsters (excellent armored cleaning crew as long as they have plenty of good hideouts to moult in).
So for now the 180 is "peaceful" again with a 9.5" JD, a 11.5" RT, 6" GT, 4.5" Leporinus fasciatus (constantly at it with the firemouth), 4.5" Firemouth, 10" Lyonsi, 14" pacu (still wishes he was dead), 14" sailfin pleco, 3 5" Pictus cats (Despite the recommendation to keep in groups of 3 they are vicious to each other), and 2 5" lobsters.
IMO the best setup is 1 large agressive cichlid, I small vicious cichlid (convict or firemouth) LOTS of hiding spots the large cichlid cant get into, a large pleco 10"+, and a lobster (these guys clean a tank amazingly, even the fish feces is shredded and instead of settling on the bottom it goes out to the filter! They are a must have, they make cleaning easy).
I realy wish I had better luck overstocked but I didnt. More power to those of you who can make it work.
I have 9 cichlids in a 150. Including Herichthys Turquoise, F0 Red Devil, F1 Midas, Grammode, Red Dragon FH, Amp Sagittae, Carpinte, F1 Festae and Hatian. They are all around 2-3 inches and doing fine as of right now
This is what I Have in my 579 (actual volume).
3 Moba Frontosa 7-10"
2 Burundi Frontosa 5&7"
3 Karilani Fronsoa 3-5"
1 Orange Oscar 10"
2 Blood Parrots 5&7"
2 female convicts 3&4"
2 Bumblebee cichlids (Crabro) 5&7"
3 Albino Channel cats 7-14"
2 JD 5&8"
1 runted/stunted flowerhorn 6" (bought it at that size)
2 Pumkinseed Sunfish 4.5&5"
And last but not least 4 Orinocensis PBass 6-7"
As the tank starts developing and the smaller fish start to disappear, I will pull some of the fish and spread them back out amongst my other tanks, trade them in at the LFS, or sell them. There is absolutely no aggression besides the pumpkinseed conspecific aggression. I figure that adding about 3-4 more pumpkins will alleviate that. I am also looking for a couple other fish. I was thinking about adding a male convict to get some fry. The JDs bred in their old tank, but nothing yet in the new tank. I am thinking about some jags and lastly a dovii or two. Just to see how it goes.
I will be doing a 4GPH drip system once my relays come in. I may increase it as nitrate tests dictate.
3 Moba Frontosa 7-10"
2 Burundi Frontosa 5&7"
3 Karilani Fronsoa 3-5"
1 Orange Oscar 10"
2 Blood Parrots 5&7"
2 female convicts 3&4"
2 Bumblebee cichlids (Crabro) 5&7"
3 Albino Channel cats 7-14"
2 JD 5&8"
1 runted/stunted flowerhorn 6" (bought it at that size)
2 Pumkinseed Sunfish 4.5&5"
And last but not least 4 Orinocensis PBass 6-7"
As the tank starts developing and the smaller fish start to disappear, I will pull some of the fish and spread them back out amongst my other tanks, trade them in at the LFS, or sell them. There is absolutely no aggression besides the pumpkinseed conspecific aggression. I figure that adding about 3-4 more pumpkins will alleviate that. I am also looking for a couple other fish. I was thinking about adding a male convict to get some fry. The JDs bred in their old tank, but nothing yet in the new tank. I am thinking about some jags and lastly a dovii or two. Just to see how it goes.
I will be doing a 4GPH drip system once my relays come in. I may increase it as nitrate tests dictate.
I believe that one reason overstocked aggressive tanks sometimes work is that even though a fish may realize he is tougher than another fish… he may also realize that the damage he takes killing this weaker fish may make him vulnerable to other fish in the tank.
So… If you have 10 Random Cichlids in a tank…the toughest fish in the tank will not fight/kill the second toughest fish in the tank… even though he can kill it… because he will take damage and weaken himself so that the third toughest fish in the tank will, for a short time, be tougher than him.
Now picture yourself living in an apartment building with 9 neighbors that you totally don’t like… and would rather not have around… and you would beat the snot out of, if fighting one of them wouldn’t make you vulnerable to the rest… sounds pretty miserable huh… now picture all 10 of you sharing the same apartment… now picture all ten sharing the same room… this may also cause a little stress…
PS - Now add in the fact you cannot leave the room in any way shape or form...
So… If you have 10 Random Cichlids in a tank…the toughest fish in the tank will not fight/kill the second toughest fish in the tank… even though he can kill it… because he will take damage and weaken himself so that the third toughest fish in the tank will, for a short time, be tougher than him.
Now picture yourself living in an apartment building with 9 neighbors that you totally don’t like… and would rather not have around… and you would beat the snot out of, if fighting one of them wouldn’t make you vulnerable to the rest… sounds pretty miserable huh… now picture all 10 of you sharing the same apartment… now picture all ten sharing the same room… this may also cause a little stress…
PS - Now add in the fact you cannot leave the room in any way shape or form...
